The lung disease caused by Covid 19 is not a conventional respiratory pneumonia. I'm
going to explain this further, however, the question we should be asking is how does the
virus gain access to the lungs? And the answer may be very different than what you might
think.
Now if you've watched this channel for any amount of time, you will know that we have
talked about oral health and back in December of 2020, I had Dr. Fabiano Vieira Vilhena
on the channel and we talked about a randomized controlled trial that was using mouthwash
to help to reduce hospital stays for Covid 19. Since then, they have done a lot more
research with this particular mouthwash.
I have it right here. It's not available right now, but they did send me some and now Word
is getting out to the international community on the importance of oral care and Covid 19.
Now, I can say that from Canada, the public health messaging has not at all been centered
on any importance given to oral care.
I cannot speak for what may be happening in the hospitals, but I am going to show you
a protocol that Dr. Graham Lloyd -Jones has worked on and they have instituted at the
Salisbury Hospital. Now this is for hospital patients, but it does not only apply to patients
who are in hospital. It's very important information, and I would like to share this with you.
Share the reasoning why SARS-CoV-2 is not just a regular pneumonia, why it is actually
a vascular disease, and what this has to do with the importance of oral care and how the
virus actually enters the body and causes infection. Please stick with me to the end
because I do have a surprise for you at the end.
I'd also like to give a shout out to one of our audience members who actually sent this
information to me and brought this to my attention so you know who you are if you're out there
watching. Thank you. I so appreciate you and I appreciate all your support. You have been
here basically since the beginning, back in 2020, so thank you for your ongoing support
and thank you to all of you for your support of evidence-based science on this channel.
Let's get into the update. So Hippocrates said that all disease begins in the gut and
more and more we are learning about the importance of the microbiome and how this relates to
health and if you have seen any of the videos on my channel, you'll probably see that we
do talk about the importance of the microbiome.
However, the mouth is also the entry point into your digestive and respiratory tracts,
including your microbiome and some of the bacteria can come in through your mouth, through
your respiratory system can certainly cause disease. And we are also seeing that these
viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus, can disrupt the microbiome.
So it's all related and I think we need to be paying a little bit more attention to this.
So today we are going to talk a little bit about periodontitis, and I will remind you
that I am a pharmacist, not a dentist. This is not my area of specialty, but it's important
that we learn a little bit about what periodontitis is and how it can leave us more susceptible
to disease.
So periodontitis or inflammation of the gums is linked with respiratory disease, rheumatoid
arthritis, coronary artery disease and problems controlling blood sugar in diabetes. It has
long been known that a person who lacks good oral health and oral hygiene is more susceptible
to disease and also if they have a chronic illness, not only could they be more susceptible
to chronic illness, but these chronic illnesses become less easy to manage.
Periodontal diseases are prevalent, both in developed and developing countries, and affect
around 20 to 50% of the global population. So this is a massive problem. Periodontal
disease is likely to cause a 19% increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease, and
this increase in the relative risk reaches to 44% among individuals, 65 and over.
So you can see the importance of oral health in all age demographics, but in particular
those who are older. Now periodontitis is also related to maternal infection, preterm
birth, low birth weight, and preeclampsia and so it's very important that mothers who
are expecting do take good care of their oral health.
Here are some of the signs and symptoms of periodontal disease, bad breath or a bad taste
that won't go away. Red or swollen gums often these people have bleeding gums. Chewing can
be painful, there can be sensitivity of the teeth, and so these are some things that you
could watch out for.
This study looked at the prevalence of periodontal disease and it's association with systemic
diseases and prevention. All the links to these studies will be in the description of
this video. The authors wrote that oral disease prevention strategies should be incorporated
into chronic systemic disease preventative initiatives to curtail the burden of disease
in populations.
The reduction in the incidence and prevalence of periodontal disease can reduce its associated
systemic diseases and can also minimize their financial impact on healthcare systems. And
so today we are bringing awareness to this type of prevention that I think needs to be
more widely, , messaged across, populations, especially across healthcare sectors.
So I'd like to introduce you now to a radiologist from the UK, and his name is Dr. Graham Lloyd
-Jones. Now, Dr. Lloyd-Jones has written a brilliant thread on Twitter about how SARS-CoV-2
enters the body and the importance of oral health. And this also pertains to Covid 19
outcomes. So I'm going to go through the thread in detail with you for you to understand better
what Dr.
Lloyd-Jones is talking about. Now he says that the main root of infection into the lungs
is via the mucus membranes of the mouth with transport to the pulmonary vessels via the
blood. Both high viral load in saliva and poor oral health are linked with severe outcomes
in COVID-19. This includes death.
So if we remember how SARS-CoV-2 enters, the body, it must attach to the ACE2 receptor
and thereby gain entry into the cell in order for it to replicate and further spread throughout
the body.
It's important to know where these ACE2 receptors are located and also where they are not located
in abundance. The airways of the lungs do not express the ACE2 receptor with high intensity.
ACE2 expression in the respiratory tract is limited with none or low levels of ACE2 expression
in the lungs and respiratory epithelium.
We know that the mouth is a viral factory, and this was established through the study
where levels of virus in saliva reach up to 100 million parts per ml, which is equal to
half a billion particles in a five ml teaspoon. This study is showing that high viral load
and saliva is actually a better predictor of death in COVID-19 than patient age.
Another study looked at the association between periodontitis and the severity of Covid 19
infection. They looked at 568 patients and they concluded that gum disease linked to
poor outcomes in covid 19 with an odds ratio for death of 8.8. Not only this, they also
noted that blood levels of white blood cells, D-dimer, and C reactive protein were significantly
higher in covid 19 patients with periodontitis.
This is because this is a sign of inflammation in the body. Periodontitis was associated with
a higher risk of ICU admission, need for assisted ventilation and death of covid 19 patients,
and increased risk of biomarkers linked to worse disease outcomes.
Dr. Lloyd-Jones here goes on to say that Covid 19 lung disease is not a respiratory pneumonia.
Radiologically the disease is more accurately considered to be a disease of the lung vessels
or a pulmonary vasculopathy. The areas of the lungs in Covid 19 that are damaged are
actually the least accessible to the airways. What they see on the CT scans are that the
bottom, the back, and the sides of the lungs are most affected.
So could SARS-CoV-2 be arriving in the lungs via the bloodstream, not the respiratory tract?
This study looked at the ACE2 expression in the olfactory neuroepithelium. They stated
and found that the upper respiratory tract is actually the first site of infection, not
the lungs. The ACE two receptor itself is expressed 200 to 700 times more intensely
in the nose than in the lung airways.
If you're getting value out of the presentation so far, it would mean the world to me if you
subscribed with notifications and maybe even gave this presentation a like or a comment.
Okay, let's get back into it.
So if you would like to know more about how the SARS-CoV-2 virus is causing this cascade
of inflammation in the body, you can look at the renin angiotensin aldosterone system.
It will help you to understand a little bit better of what is happening, but as the virus
gains entry, through the mouth and through the bloodstream, it is causing inflammation
in the blood vessels. This is leading to vasoconstriction and different pressures in different blood
vessels, and eventually this does lead to, different coagulation problems and poor outcomes.
But if you look it up and if you want to look at this particular graph in more detail, I
will have this linked for you in the description of the video. So Dr. Lloyd-Jones says the
mouth is the most accessible place that we can kill SARS-CoV-2 and this is so wonderful
to hear because we talked about this in December of 2020 with Dr. Vilhena, and so this is now
coming to light and Public Health England is starting to really pay attention to this.
So oral hygiene me measures that Dr. Lloyd-Jones says are quite important especially when sick
are toothbrushing and many people when they're ill, they're not brushing their teeth. When
they're in hospital, they're not brushing their teeth, and so they're actually giving
patients in the Salisbury Hospital toothbrushes now, as well as mouth washes containing CPC,
ELA OR LAE, or phtalocyanine, which is the active ingredient we've already covered on
this channel. This is the interview that I did with Dr. Vilhena, where he spoke of a
mouthwash containing the active ingredients, phtalocyanine, and I actually have some of
it here.
They were so gracious as to send me some. So in this study, they found that using a
mouthwash, which reduces the viral load in the mouth as a single measure in addition
to standard care reduces the average covid 19 length of hospital stay from seven to four
days. This is quite significant when you're thinking of hospitals that are at times still
being overwhelmed by Covid 19, but this could also be used in the community.
Now we're going to go over the protocol that has been established by Dr. Lloyd-Jones and
his team Covid 19 Mouth Care Guidance, and this is, brochure that they are giving out
to patients. We're going to go through it in detail and again linked in the description
of the video. So they recommend that you brush your teeth at least twice a day for two minutes
using a fluoride toothpaste.
You brush last thing at night, so there are lower numbers of troublesome bacteria in your
mouth while you sleep. We know that saliva production decreases dramatically while you
sleep and this could be a factory for viruses, brush, brush, all services of the tooth, carefully
clean well along the gum line, and so you can go over all of this instruction when you
have a moment. If you wear dentures, it's important to clean them after meals, to remove
debris. The mouth should also be clean with a soft tooth toothbrush twice a day. They
go on to say that. It is important that you drink plenty of fluids throughout the day
and do not allow your mouth to dry out.
Keep your mouth healthy and clean and after you brush. Spit out but do not rinse the mouthwash
that they're providing to patients is recommended to be used at a different time from brushing
your teeth, for example, after a morning or afternoon drink or after eating, it is important
that people not swallow the mouthwash.
They rinse for at least 30 seconds. I believe the study from Dr. Vilhena, had people rinsing
and gargling for at least 60 seconds and then wait 30 minutes after using the mouthwash
before eating or drinking. So the question arises, and I've had many of these questions
on the channel, Which mouthwash should I use?
Now, the Phtalox mouthwash is not yet available internationally. However, I will keep you
updated on that, because early 2023 that piece of information may be changing. So these are,
this is the protocol that they are recommending in Salisbury. So these are some of the products.
You can see the active ingredients that they're recommending, and, the ones that they've found
to be most anti effective as antivirals.
Important that mouthwash should not be swallowed and mouthwash is containing only alcohol or
chlorhexidine are effective at killing plaque bacteria, which possibly encourage the entry
of SARS-CoV-2, But there is limited evidence that they directly kill the virus. Only products
containing CPC or E L E/ L A E have evidence for killing SARS-CoV-2 in the test tube
and we await the results of clinical trials for their effect in the mouth. And we already
know that we do have evidence of in vitro how phtalocyanine can definitely kill SARS-CoV-2
and there they have done more studies, since the time of the interview on how effective
it is in Vivo.
Should I use these mouth washes and take particular care of my mouth?
if I have Covid. 19. Well, even if you feel well and you have Covid 19, we suggest you
start using one of these mouth washes. I don't suggest this. This is the Salisbury protocol.
Soon after testing positive for Covid 19 and continue to use it for at least two weeks.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus can stay in the saliva, in the mouth for more than two months after
infection.
And an important note that alcohol and benzoic acid or Benzoate can irritate the mouth and
may not be suitable for prolonged use.
So why is this important for you? A reminder that a teaspoon of saliva can contain over
500 million copies of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and I would venture to state that this can
apply to other viruses as well.
And I talked about Epstein Bar because I know there's research going on regarding Epstein
Bar in the mouth as well. The more virus there is in someone's saliva has been linked to
getting more severe Covid 19. High virus numbers in the saliva are a better predictor of death
for Covid 19 than the patient's age. Severe gum disease increases the risk of getting
severe covid 19.
There's a reminder right there to make a dentist appointment. Have you been seeing your dentist
regularly? And research shows that those who die from COVID 19 are also 8.8 times more
likely to have had severe gum disease. So put another way. The increased risk of death
from Covid 19 in people with severe gum disease is 780% higher than those without.
Research shows that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be killed in the test tube with the use use
of some specific mouthwash products, which are safe, cheap, and easily available in supermarkets,
pharmacies, and online. This is part of their protocol. Simple oral health measures have
been shown to improve the chance of recovery from other types of pneumonia in hospital
patients, and the same might be true for Covid 19.
So the surprise I have for you is that Dr. Lloyd Jones has agreed to come on the channel.
I will be interviewing him and I'm really looking forward to this because I believe
that the work that he's doing to raise awareness of how SARS-CoV-2 gets into the bloodstream
and how we understand SARS-CoV-2 as a non-conventional pneumonia, but more of a vascular disease
is extremely important. If you have questions for Dr. Lloyd Jones, please leave them in
the comments I will do my best to ask him. Look for this interview. Make sure that you
have the notifications or the bell icon on your subscription feed for this channel so
you get notified of when this interview is posted.
Let me know in the comments if you found this helpful and what your biggest takeaway was
from the presentation. Thank you so much for joining me. Take care and stay healthy. Bye-bye.